The 7th edition character creation differs in many ways from those which have been before. The first change you will note is that the characteristics creation has changed radicaly. No longer the ubiquitous 3d6 for each now a simple choose which numbers you wish to put where. No doubt once the finished edition comes out you will be able to generate rather than choose, but for the moment we will follow the ruleset we have. I know that much of this will seem simple to those who have played Call of Cthulhu before, but bear with me for a while.
So, to quote the free ruleset,
The Characteristics
To begin, a Call of Cthulhu character has eight characteristics:
1. Strength (STR) measures the raw physical power your investigator can bring to bear.
2. Constitution (CON) is a measure of the health and hardiness of your investigator.
3. Power (POW) is a combination of force of will, spirit, and mental stability.
4. Dexterity (DEX) is a measure of your investigator’s physical agility and speed.
5. Appearance (APP) measures the charm and physical appeal of your character.
6. Size (SIZ) reflects your investigator’s combined height and weight.
7. Intelligence (INT) is a rough measure of your investigator’s cunning and ability to make leaps of logic and intuition.
8. Education (EDU) is a measure of the knowledge that your investigator has accumulated through formal education, or the venerated “School of Hard Knocks.”
Allocate the following values where you like among your characteristics: 40, 50, 50, 50, 60, 60, 70, 80.
Half and Fifth Values
Take the value for each of your characteristics and halve it, rounding that value down to the nearest whole number if necessary. Then take the value for each characteristic and divide by 5 to give the “fifth” value, again rounding down as required.
Record the full/half/fifth values (e.g. Brian’s investigator’s STR 60 would be written on the investigator sheet as 60 (30/12)).
Secondary Attributes
There are a number of attributes that are determined after you have worked out the characteristics above. These are Luck, Damage Bonus, Hit Points, and Sanity.
Luck begins at 3D6 (see Roleplaying dice, page 6) multiplied by 5. A Luck roll is often used to determine whether external circumstances are in your favour or against you.
Example: Brian is fleeing a hoard of zombies and jumps into a nearby car. The Keeper asks for a Luck roll to determine whether the keys are in the ignition. Brian makes a percentage roll, rolling 28, which is lower than his Luck score; he turns the keys and the engine roars in to action!
Magic Points (MP) are equal to one-fifth POW, and are used when casting spells, powering arcane devices, and magical effects. Magic points that are spent regenerate naturally at a rate of 1 point per hour. Once an individual is out of magic points, any further expenditure is deducted directly from hit points—any such loss manifesting as physicaldamage in a form chosen by the Keeper.
Damage Bonus and Build: Damage Bonus is how much extra damage your investigator does with a successful close-combat (melee) attack. Build is a scale of combined size and strength. Add your STR and SIZ together and consult the following table.
Damage Bonus and Build Table
STR + SIZ Damage Bonus Build
2–64 –2 –2
65–84 –1 –1
85–124 None 0
125–164 +1D4 +1
165–204 +1D6 +2
Example: Brian set his STR to 60 and his SIZ to 70, totaling 130. When he makes a successful physical attack, he will deal an extra 1D4 points of damage (Damage Bonus). His Build is +1.
Hit Points (HP) are figured by adding SIZ and CON together, then dividing the total by ten and rounding down to the nearest whole number. As your investigator takes damage from combat or other events, your HPs will drop.
Sanity (SAN) begins at a level equal to your POW score. Circle the value that corresponds to this number on the investigator sheet. This score is used as a percentile roll that presents your investigator’s ability to remain stoic in the face of horrors. As you encounter the monstrosities of the Cthulhu Mythos, your SAN score fluctuates.
Occupation and Skills
At this point, you should form an idea of what your investigator does for a living. The term ‘investigator’ does not restrict you to being a cop or private eye. This choice of occupation will influence the selection of skills for your investigator. To begin with, choose an occupation. Anything you think would be interesting to play is valid, but you should agree this with your Keeper. Some favourite occupations in Call of Cthulhu are Professor, Journalist, Occultist and Archeologist. However, the occupations are only limited by your imagination.
Either pick an occupation from the list following and use the specified list of skills provided, or tailor one to your requirements—to do this, decide upon an occupation and then look at the list of skills on the investigator sheet. Choose eight skills that are appropriate for your investigator’s chosen occupation (e.g. what skills would a person doing this occupation require?). These are your “Occupation Skills”.
Sample Occupations
ANTIQUARIAN— Appraise, Art/Craft (any), History, Library Use, Other Language, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), Spot Hidden, any one other skill.
AUTHOR—Art (Literature), History, Library Use, Natural World or Occult, Other Language, Own Language, Psychology, any one other skill.
DILETTANTE— Art/Craft (Any), Firearms, Other Languages, Ride, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), any three other skills.
DOCTOR OF MEDICINE— First Aid, Other Language (Latin), Medicine, Psychology, Science (Biology), Science (Pharmacy), any two other skills as academic or personal specialties (e.g. a psychiatrist might take Psychoanalysis).
JOURNALIST— Art/Craft (Photography), History, Library Use, Own Language, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), Psychology, any two other skills.
POLICE DETECTIVE— Art/Craft (Acting) or Disguise, Firearms, Law, Listen, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), Psychology, Spot Hidden, any one other skill.
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR— Art/Craft (photography), Disguise, Law, Library Use, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), Psychology, Spot Hidden and any one other skill (e.g. Locksmith, Firearms).
PROFESSOR— Library Use, Other Language, Own Language, Psychology, any four other skills as academic or personal specialties.
You now assign points to the skills on the investigator sheet. No player can add points to the Cthulhu Mythos skill during character creation, as it is assumed that all beginning characters are ignorant of the threat of the Mythos.
Allocate the following values among the eight Occupation Skills and also the Credit Rating skill: one at 70%, two at 60%, three at 50% and three at 40% (set the skills directly to these values and ignore the skill base values written next to each skill on the investigator sheet).
After assigning points to the Occupation Skills, select your Personal Interest Skills. These are skills that your character has acquired outside of work.
Pick four non-occupation skills and boost them by 20% (adding 20 to the skill base values listed on the investigator sheet).
We recommend that you write your skill values down in the same format as your Characteristics— full/half/fifth values—as you’ll need to refer to these during the game. Of course if you prefer, you can just write the full value of each skill and do the math in your head during the course of the game.
Example: Brian chooses ‘soldier’ as an occupation. The eight skills that seem most appropriate are Climb, Dodge, Fighting, Firearms, Stealth, First Aid, Survival and Other Language. Brian sets the skill values as follows:
Climb 60%, Credit Rating 40%, Dodge 60%, Fighting 70%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 40%, Other Language 50% (picking Spanish as a second language), Stealth 50%, Survival 40%.
Brian picks four hobby skills, raising each one by 20%; Drive Auto 40%, Jump 40%, Mechanical Repair 30% and Spot Hidden 45%. Each is then written on the sheet next to the skill as full, half and fifth values, such as “Spot Hidden: 45 (22/9)”.
Credit Rating
A character’s Credit Rating is an indicator of his or her wealth and class. Depending on how many of your Occupation Skill points you allocated to this skill, your investigator is...
Credit Rating 0...Penniless, living on the streets.
Credit Rating 1-9...Poor, possessing the bare minimum.
Credit Rating 10-49...Average, a reasonable level of comfort.
Credit Rating 50-89...Wealthy, some degree of luxury.
Credit Rating 90-98...Rich, great wealth and luxury.
Credit Rating 99...Super rich, money is no object.
Example: Brian chose a Credit Rating of 40% for his soldier, meaning that he has an average income.
Final Touches
You now have something that looks like a finished character. Go back to the top of the investigator sheet to make sure you have written down your character’s name, sex and age, and have all the other information filled in.
Further explanation of the rules and how they relate to characteristics or skills can be found within the download
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/1 ... urers_id=2
